Rochester city officials estimate that they will need $3.1 million to buy out existing high-speed ferry contracts or continue them if necessary, according to legislation before City Council, according to the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle.
The amount is included in an expense list justifying the mayor’s request to borrow $9.4 million from the city insurance reserve and close out ferry operations. Other expenses include repaying manager Bay Ferries Great Lakes LLC, which is owed $2

A.P.Møller-Mærsk is still prepared to invest in new ships from China and is going to order 25 ships in the course of one year, wrote the newspaper China Business News according to the news agency AFX.
An unnamed employee at A.P.Møller-Mærsk’s office in China has told the newspaper that the shipping line last week signed a deal to buy four container ships at the Dailan Shipbuilding Industry and 80 tons deadweight tug vessels at Quingdao Qianjin.

Shipping Corp. of India Ltd. plans to buy 76 vessels for about $3.3b over the next six years, The Financial Express reported. This is the first major fleet acquisition proposal by the state-run carrier in recent years. The ships would be bought through the rest of the 10th plan period and end of the 11th plan till 2012. The 10th plan is the official span for development budgeting by the government between 2002 and 2007. The 11th plan would cover the following five years

Israel Corp. subsidiary Zim Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. said it had placed an order to purchase eight mega container ships from the South Korea’s shipyard Samsung Heavy Industries Co. Ltd.
The deal, valued at $1.37b, ($170m each) comes six weeks after Zim Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. announced its plan to upgrade its container vessels fleet.
The company had ordered eight TEU 12,600 mega containership for delivery by July 2012

Shipping company Chuan Hup Holdings Limited bought three vessels for S$5.8 million in cash, boosting its fleet to 146 ships to cater to growing regional demand for shipping. In October Maritime Week reported that Lim said Chuan Hup signed a contract with Indonesian company PT Adaro to ship coal from Indonesia's Kalimantan to a power station in East Java, and would have to spend some S$40-50 million on 20 new barges and tug boats

Aker Maritime has acquired control of about one fourth of Kvaerner for a reported $350 million (3 billion crowns). The purchase made the industrial holding firm, a group of companies operating in more than 20 countries with no previous Kvaerner ownership, the biggest shareholder in Kvaerner.
"Aker Maritime ASA has today bought rights issues, shares and options in Kvaerner ASA which together amount to 26.39 percent of the company after the ongoing rights issue

Thirt-seven years after the SS United States last sailed the seas under its own power, and four years after Norwegian Cruise Line bought the ship, a key question remains: Can the grand vessel ever make a comeback?
Norwegian Cruise Line, or NCL, which bought the old Newport News-built vessel in 2003, won't reveal its plans for the ship, which likely would need hundreds of millions of dollars to refurbish. But in May, the chairman of the company that owns NCL gave boosters hope

To be trite, every cloud has a silver lining, and the stormy shipping market crisis' shining beacon appears to be strong investment opportunities in secondhand ships. In its latest report, "Secondhand Ships: Investment Potential and Value for Money," Drewry's argues that "adversity provides opportunity... therefore, acquisitions made now could prove to be bargains." Drewry believes that 1999 and 2000 should be interesting and active years for the secondhand ship market.

The U.S. Navy’s push to fund shipbuilding through its research and development (R&D) budget has paid off.
Because the rules that govern R&D spending are more lenient than those for ordinary procurement, the service was able to begin building a new Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) in October even though the 2006 defense authorization and appropriations bills have yet to pass Congress or be signed by the president.
When the Navy signed a $223 million construction contract with General Dynamics

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and Hermes Infrastructure are prepared to buy a 30 percent stake in Associated British Ports for about 1.6 billion pounds ($2.4 billion).
Associated British Ports is Britain's leading port operator, with 21 ports in England

Argentina's state-controlled YPF has bought at least five cargoes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) for delivery between April and June, traders said on Friday.
Suppliers included Shell, EDF Trading, Petrobras, BP and Excelerate, traders said.

Shipping Corporation of India Ltd (SCI) will buy five vessels from Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL) and issue tenders for buying two used liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carriers as it looks to re-start ship purchases that were frozen after poor financial performance

Seeking to enhance its surveillance capabilities on its warships, the Indian Navy (IN) has now announced a global competition for procuring ‘Ship-Borne Unmanned Aerial Vehicles’ (UAV) that can augment various patrolling and search-related tactics on its vessels.

Enterprise Products Partners LP said on Wednesday that companies using its crude oil storage facility in the Houston Ship Channel must pay extra for dock services, brushing off complaints from client BP Plc .
"We believe if you want a service, you pay for it

International accountancy firm Moore Stephens says the shipping sector should approach private equity (PE) providers for funding to support the ‘significant investment’ in technology and services needed to achieve compliance with environmental regulations and to maintain

Greatship (India) Limited (GIL), a wholly owned subsidiary of The Great Eastern Shipping Company Limited, has signed a contract to buy a 2015-built 4000 dwt Platform Supply Vessel (PSV). The vessel is expected to join the Company’s fleet during Q4FY2015.

The Canadian government signed an order on Monday blocking the United States from applying controversial "Buy America" purchasing rules on the demolition and reconstruction of a ferry terminal that is located on Canada's Pacific Coast but operated by Alaska's Department of Transportation

China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company has received a $1.75 billion loan from the Export-Import Bank of China to buy 53 new ships, which it plans to order from Chinese shipyards, the firm said on Monday.
The state-backed shipping conglomerate, which controls China COSCO Holdings Co Ltd

The U.S. Navy plans to award contracts before the end of the first quarter to Lockheed Martin Corp and Australia's Austal for its next three Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) as well as money to buy materials for a fourth, Navy officials said Thursday.

The U.S. Navy will insist on competition for the next U.S. amphibious warship despite a decision last year to base the ship on the LPD-17 ship designed by Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc, Marine Corps Major General Robert Walsh said on Tuesday.